I thought I’d share this with you. The BBC has a page for each religion where they give a bit of information at a glance, and one for atheism too.
Atheism is the absence of belief in any gods or spiritual beings. The word Atheism comes from a, meaning without, and theism meaning belief in god or gods.
- Atheists don’t use god to explain the existence of the universe.
- Atheists say that human beings can devise suitable moral codes to live by without the aid of Gods or scriptures.
Reasons for non-belief
People are atheist for many reasons, among them:
- They find insufficient evidence to support any religion.
- They think that religion is nonsensical.
- They once had a religion and have lost faith in it.
- They live in a non-religious culture.
- Religion doesn’t interest them.
- Religion doesn’t seem relevant to their lives.
- Religions seem to have done a lot of harm in the world.
- The world is such a bad place that there can’t be a god.
It is possible to be both atheist and religious. Virtually all Buddhists manage it, as do adherents of other religions, such as Judaism and Christianity.
But many atheists are also secularist, and are hostile to any special treatment given to organised religion.
Atheists and morality
Atheists are as moral (or immoral) as religious people.
In practical terms atheists often follow the same moral code as religious people, but they arrive at the decision of what is good or bad without any help from the idea of god.
What does it mean to be human?
Atheists find their own answers to the question of what it means to be human.
What are your main reasons for being an atheist? Mine are:
- There is zero evidence of the supernatural in any shape or form. (except the Invisible Pink Unicorn, may you die an honorable death, trampled under her holy pink hooves!)
- Religion is harmful if swallowed. It survives and thrives on indoctrination/brainwashing, especially in early childhood when a person has no defense for its insanity.
- Religion has caused more death, murder, destruction, harm, repression, ignorance, destruction of knowledge, etc, than anything else.
- I live in a religious culture and I see the hypocrisy and harm it causes.
- The morality of the religious is twisted and usually extremely hypocritical. As an atheist I have my own moral code that doesn’t rely on 2,000 year old rules from desert goat herders who liked to stone people for wearing 2 different fibers at the same time.
- Life does not appear to be sacred to the religious, despite their constant braying about the issue. The religious seem desperate to control everyone’s life but their own. (More hypocrisy). The religious subjugate themselves in this life (at least they pretend on the surface, while breaking their rules in secret often) because they want eternal life that doesn’t involve roasting forever in hell (so it’s based on fear of suffering, not on being good for goodness sake).As an atheist, this the the only life I have. It is natural, amazing, awe-inspiring, and precious beyond measure. Every moment is to be treasured and lived fully.
- Religion is based on faith, which by definition, has no proof. Religion abhors such free thought. I embrace reason, critical thinking, logic, observation, experimentation, facts, science, intelligence, freethought and skepticism. Basically I believe in using your brain, and thinking for yourself.
That’s my short list. I’m sure I have other reasons for being an atheist but I can’t think of them offhand. So what are yours?
Overall I like what the BBC page says but
Couldn’t they have found a better word than “hostile”, like “object to” or “are opposed to”? Hostile. Great. Me not wanting to get steam-rollered with faith based initiatives (that won’t help poor atheists) counts as being “hostile”. Gee, think I can become an enemy combatant if I run a blog?
Okay, now that I’m done overreacting to that…
* Faith itself is harmful to the human mind and human potential. It is limiting.
* Belief can lead people to horrible actions which go against their own morals and values
* I like sex, self-esteem, and sleeping in on Sundays.
* George Carlin said it best: Religion is bullshit.
Oh, and is it just me or is the atheism avatar better endowed than the others?
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Johnny Reply:
September 4th, 2009 at 12:06 pm
Huh! I missed the “hostile” jab in there. That furthers the credibility of my speculation that a Christian wrote or edited the BBC entry.
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Neece Reply:
September 10th, 2009 at 1:29 am
I agree Angie, the hostile jab was kind of low.
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I Stumbled this a few days back too. I think its cool that the BBC actually has that post, and that the definition is pretty accurate.
My beef with the BBC page though was the capitalization of god. This clearly shows a Christian leaning thought process by the writer or editor of the article. Or at the very least a religious person who does not understand that god is a title or defining term, not a name (only Christians use it as a name). *I noticed you changed most of them to lowercase in your post Neece.*
The other thing I found slightly inaccurate is their bullet list of reasons. It focuses too much on reason atheists disagree with or don’t follow religion; and misses one of the main (and usually universal) reasons for atheism: Lack of evidence for any gods or deities.
You’ve got a good list there Neece. I’d have to say my ’short list’ would be:
I’ve got lots of things against religion, and those amass a huge pile of reasons to oppose religion. They might contribute to my atheism, but I think of those more as footnote reasons, not the main reason.
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Steve Reply:
September 8th, 2009 at 8:47 pm
I think you’ve hit the nail on the head, there Johnny. The only reason on my “why I’m an atheist” short list is the lack of evidence.
Actually, there are two. Angie summed up George quite succinctly: Religion is bullshit.
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Neece Reply:
September 10th, 2009 at 1:33 am
I agree, Steve!
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Neece Reply:
September 10th, 2009 at 1:33 am
I agree, they did capitalize god, which I find rather offensive. Yes, in my post, I must confess I changed the capitals to lower cases. I couldn’t help myself.
I think you’re right, a christian wrote this. Especially with the “hostile” jab.
I also agree with your short list. My main reason for being an atheist is the comprehensive lack of evidence for gods and anything else supernatural.
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A slowly-emerging realisation that I didn’t NEED a crutch to be myself, to love my life, and to revel in this uncertain but wholly fascinating universe.
Then I actually read the bible, and that clinched it.
I’ve danced in reality ever since. It’s THE best place to be.
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Neece Reply:
September 10th, 2009 at 1:34 am
Reality is awesome, isn’t it?
Thanks, Joules
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